Author: Michelle Kilty

Sphero in the School Library: A guest review from Mindy Perry

Sphero

About Mindy

Hello! Mindy Perry here, guest posting about Sphero 2.0. This is my 2nd year as a school librarian at Greenbrook School. We are a K-5 building and serve approximately 500 students. I’m very new into the world of robotics, although I love technology. My motto is books + tech. Sphero 2.0 is my first robotic type purchase for the library. I participated in ILEADUSA 2014 alongside Robot Test Kitchen. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE what they are doing and I’m honored to be a guest blogger for this very cool site.

Robot Basics

  • What is it?

A robotic ball with internal leds that can be driven by any mobile device. Sphero can do tricks, is sensitive enough to dance to music being played, is waterproof and pet-proof.

  • What’s in the Box?

It came with the Sphero 2.0 ball, charger, and necessary cords.

  • How much?

Price is $129.99 off of Sphero’s website. Mine was ordered through Amazon. Watch for deals on both sites. Amazon was running a sale around Christmas. Sphero had their accessories on sale through there website.

  • Age Range?

I’d say Kindergarten and up. Most people of all ages will enjoy Sphero 2.0.

  • How we acquired it

I asked for Sphero 2.0 and Ollie as my Christmas present. I left the decision on which one I was going to get in the hands of my mom. I like surprises and would have been happy with either model. The kids were blown away that I would ask for a robot for Christmas just so they could get to play with it during library.

Ideas for usespheromp1

My first concern and thoughts when I opened the box was about how I was going to set up my Nexus 7 tablet so that it would be easy for students to manage on their own while playing and how I was going to manage the Sphero 2.0.

But first he needed a name. My mom told me a story about a TV show from when she was young about a robot named Tobor (Robot spelled backwards). I couldn’t resist the name so my Sphero 2.0 is now known as Tobor.

Then my brain was flooded with a million questions…..

When will the students play? Who gets to drive? What will the other students do? Where will I house the device? How will it charge during the day? How will I set up the apps on the phone? How will I teach it? My brain has a way of running away without me.

spheromp2On the Nexus 7, I created a second profile so that I controlled which apps they had access to and at what times. On the homescreen, I downloaded 6 Sphero apps. I took all other apps off the homescreen because the Nexus 7’s only use at this point is to drive the Sphero ball. This minimized confusion of apps. So far so good but I’d be open to any suggestions on better management of Sphero 2.0.

So what does this look like in use at an elementary school of approximately 500 students? I chose to introduce Sphero 2.0 to grades 3-5, much to the dismay of 2nd grade. They were not pleased! Once I get a handle on all of this and the kinks are worked out, I will most likely reconsider for them. I like to jump into things, but I don’t want push myself over the deep end either. Teaching is hard enough. I spend 30 minutes with each class each week. The first 15 minutes, I teach. The last half of the class is for check out. It doesn’t take some students that long to check out so I have different activities and stations that they can do on their own until the end of class. The kids learns on their own and I’m free to help students find worthy reads. Sphero 2.0 has become an option to play with after checking out books. This not enough time! I hear groans and “we’re leaving already?!?” at the end of library. I made it very clear that they need to share the tablet amongst themselves and to problem solve who drives. I wasn’t going to create a spreadsheet on who wants to drive and who drove last. I want them to take ownership of working together without my involvement. The non-drivers for the week can build obstacle courses with the terrain park, 3 chariots, 2 covers, and 3 lbs of Lego’s I purchased.spheromp3

In a few weeks I will be introducing a project that will take us to the end of the school year. I am modifying Sphero Education’s Chariot Challenge. I will be incorporating lessons on searching, notetaking, and citation into the research portion about chariots. You know, all the librarian stuff we teach. I am thrilled to introduce this project!

Good stuff

Best conversation ever:

Student #1: The library has a robot? No way.

Student #2: You haven’t heard? Everyone’s talking about it. It’s over there……

Enough said. The library is pretty much the coolest place right now. Word spread pretty quickly, as did the amount of questions I answered in the hallway by students who had library later in the week. Tobor’s popularity even reached the middle school. My 5th graders last year found out through the library’s Instagram account.

Frustrations

I’m still trying to figure out if it’s my WiFi connection or the Bluetooth pairing that is causing the connection to say: “Sphero not found” occasionally. The WiFi is not the greatest in the library. It doesn’t happen every time I try to play, but enough that it is causing a little frustration. The students want to drive it, not wait around for it to connect.

Only having one Sphero 2.0 to play with between 20+ students at a time can get a little tricky. So far they’ve been good at sharing and dividing tasks, but it’s only been a week so this may change.

Not enough time to play. This has nothing to do with the robot itself, it has to do with my scheduled amount of time I have to see students each week. They get a few minutes each week and it’s just not enough. I have really excited students who just want to keep building, playing, and learning.

Ending Thoughts and Observations

All I knew was that I wanted to bring a robot into the library. I had no idea what I was going to do with it or if it would be worthwhile. If you’re on the fence, take the jump. It’s warm in the water. It’s very easy to use with little setup. Just search the many apps Sphero has, download and play. Don’t worry if you think you won’t be able to figure it out. You will be able to understand a few key components of the Sphero and then hand it over to the kids. They’ll teach you.

Robots in Storytime

Bee-Bot, Programs

beeoneI believe the easiest approach when it comes to using new technology is to incorporate it into a program you are already doing. Sometimes it feels too daunting to design an entire new program around some fancy new thing. Sometimes you don’t have room on the schedule to add that new fancy program. Other times you don’t have the physical room needed to add that new fancy thing. A simple solution is to find approachable technology that adds-on and/or supplements what you already do. For me that regular program to try things in is storytime.

Robots was our theme for my library’s storytime sessions this week. I thought, it would be fun to let kids play with a real robot – so I pulled out the Bee-Bots. See reviews for the Bee-Bot, here and here. I love them because they are an approachable hands on technology for any age. (And they are also adorable.) 

Why does this work in storytime?

  • I am a proponent of hands on activities during storytimes. They help develop motor skill and control at a lot of ages.
  • The Bee-Bot is very good at teaching sequencing and if/then relationships – which we teach with stories, flannels and rhymes – why not try a hands on way too?
  • I like giving little ones autonomy. Letting kid’s pick what buttons they want to press helps them begin to explore.

 How we did it?bee2

This is the hard part. The idea of doing something nontraditional in storytime can be scary or some might even look down on it. But my view is there are always unknowns with small children, so why is this any different? Why not explore sequencing by using the Bee-Bot instead of a flannel?

The storytimes we used Bee-Bots with were our 1,2,3 Storytimes which have kids ages 1-3 with their caregivers, and our Together Time which is kids ages 3-5 with caregivers. (Yes you can do this with Toddlers.) 

I drew a flower on a poster board. The middle of the flower was a circle just enough to fit Bee-Bot – that was his starting point for the activity. Each petal had a different color and pattern, so we could also work on colors and patterns while we did Bee-Bot.

We started the Bee-Bot activity towards the end of each storytime. Since we have two Bee-Bots and two librarians for most of our storytimes, we were able to split into two smaller groups. Each parent and child have a turn to interact with Bee-Bot. It is actually a very good circle activity and the kids worked on patience and turn taking – which is another developing skill for this age range. We explored with Bee-Bot for about ten minutes, then came back together as one group and did our ending song.

This went really well and the parents really enjoyed seeing their kids interact. Bee-Bot is such a great tool for younger kids, so why not try it in a storytime?

Review: Tiggly Shapes

Other, Programs, Reviews

First things first: Tiggly Shapes are not robots. But they are still pretty great. I’ve discovered they are a great way to bring dimension to the flat tablet world. They also can be used in libraries pretty easily.

Basics:

The four shapes.

The four shapes.

  • What are they? Tiggly Shapes are a set of four shapes designed to work with the iPad and certain apps.
  • What’s in the Box? Tiggly Shapes.
  • How Much? $29.95
  • Age Range? Ages 2 – 6
  • How Did We Acquire it? My library purchased for patron and program use. 

How we use them:

We bought Tiggly Shapes to use with the iPads we let patrons sign out while they are in the library. When we came across Tiggly Shapes we thought they would be a great addition to our iPads. Our space encourages lots of play, so having the shapes go with the iPads was a nice complement to our early literacy efforts. Patrons simply ask for the bag of Tiggly Shapes when they sign out an iPads. We have loaded the three apps that work with Tiggly to each iPad so the patrons can easily choose which app they like best.

Playing with Tiggly Stamp

Playing with Tiggly Draw

There are three apps to use with Tiggly Shapes: Tiggly Stamp, Tiggly Draw, and Tiggly Safari. They each work a little bit different, but have similar play styles. Tiggly Stamp uses the shape to make different pictures set against various backdrops. Tiggly Draw lets you use the shapes on the iPad to create pictures of whatever you’d like. Tiggly Safari is a little more interactive. It asks for certain shapes to be placed on the iPad, and makes different animals. Tiggly Safari is by far the most popular app kids use!

Tiggly can also easily be used in Storytimes. I’ve used it with toddlers (age 2-3). Tiggly is a great compliment for when you are exploring shape themes. The apps are easy to use, and you can let the kids use the Tiggly Shapes on the iPads. It is a great way to incorporate some interactive technology with the younger set.

Skills Needed:

You have to be able to put apps on iPads, and that is it.

Good Stuff:

I love Tiggly! Our patrons really love using them. Once they see how they work, kids like using them with the iPads. I like how they allow for more motor skill development.

Frustrations:

I do wish there were some classroom sets for Tiggly. While I love what they do, I can’t help but wish they had a few more options for educators.

Overall Rating:

Great fun for the younger set!